OAKLAND, Calif. -- For five generations, Grant Hunt's family has reached for new technologies to speed up its food-distribution business.

During the 1880s, Mr. Hunt's great-great grandfather hopped on the ferry boats that had just started making the run from San Francisco to bring potatoes, onions and other fresh produce to this side of the bay. During the 1950s, the company was one of the first in Northern California to use a teletype machine to get information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Mr. Hunt, who is 47...